Submissions
The 2011 Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival
Call for Entry Now Open
Overview
The Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival is launching its fourth annual celebration of bringing strong, independent documentary films and filmmakers to West Sonoma County. Screening 52 films in 3 days during the 2010 festival, with over 30 filmmakers in attendance, we are planning the best festival yet. The festival will be held March 4-6, 2011. We are accepting shorts and feature length documentary films for consideration. Submit your film to the only documentary festival named to MovieMaker Magazine’s 25 Coolest Film Festival list.
Deadlines
There are three entry deadlines:
- Early deadline: July 31, 2010 ($20 entry fee)
- Regular deadline: August 27, 2010 ($25 entry fee)
- Late deadline: September 3, 2010 ($30 entry fee)
We encourage you submit through Withoutabox for discounted rates. There is no preference given to early submissions except the discounted entry fee. Consideration by the Selection Committee is equal for all submitted films and your chances of acceptance are not diminished by a late entry.
If you do not want to use Withoutabox, please complete this form (.pdf link) and send along with film and entry fee to:
Sebastopol Center for the Arts Doc Fest
Attn: Jason Perdue
6780 Depot St.
Sebastopol, CA 95472
Categories
Films will be eligible in any category their film fits into, but must be entered into one category.
- Documentary Feature – Films 50 minutes in length or more.
- Documentary Short – Films 49 minutes in length or shorter.
- Latino Program – Films that fit the broad description of Latino in subject matter or film and filmmaker origin.
Awards
Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival awards a Jury Prize and a Critics’ Prize for both Short and Feature Documentaries. An Audience Award may be awarded at this year’s festival.
Entry Rules and Regulations
One film submission per entry fee and form.
Mandatory: submit 2 DVDs of your film (NTSC preferred. PAL DVDs must be clearly marked and will be screened by Selection Committee on computers). If you would like the DVDs returned to you, include a self-addressed, stamped envelope with adequate postage. To receive acknowledgement of your entry, you must enclose a self-addressed stamped postcard with your entry.
Foreign language films must have English subtitles.
The nonrefundable entry fee is payable only in U.S. dollars by cash, money order, or check payable to SCA.
Submissions will be reviewed by Selection Committee between May 1 and November 1, 2010.
Works in Progress: Please contact Jason Perdue sebdocfest@gmail.com to discuss your work before submitting.
Filmmakers will be notified by December 31, 2010 about the results of their submission.
Director/Producer/Submitter of films to Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival are duly authorized to submit this film, have retained all relevant rights to present the film, and authorize SDFF to screen the film during the festival March 4-6, 2011.
Film Selection Committee
Jason Perdue, Program Director, has been a member of the San Francisco Film Society for 14 years and has traveled to film festivals around the country, seeing first-hand how successful festivals are run. He served on the selection committee of the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival in 2007, and has taken on the role of program director for SDFF 2009. He brings a true film fan's perspective to programming this year’s festival.
Lorena Gomez-Barris served on the board of directors of Cine Acción, the oldest Latino media arts organization in San Francisco, serving on the selection committee and curating an annual Chile program. She is interested in both emergent and recognized films from Latin America which she plans to spotlight at this year’s festival.
Carolina Cruz Santiago has worked in various capacities in documentary film and commercial production for the past ten years. Her short film, Aloha New York, about a community of surfers in New York City premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and is currently on the Sundance Channel. She is producing a new film directed by Laurent Alfieri about his French family and their history and memories of life in Tunisia. She lives in Northern California with her family
Valerie A. Landes is the three-time Emmy Award-winning producer of KRCB-TV’s Natural Heroes series which showcases independent short films about people helping our environment. She is also independently producing Hideaway, a short film about the Holocaust for young students. Past positions have included seeking kids with wacky talents at Nickelodeon and hanging out with the Muppets on Sesame Street.
Gil Mansergh is the festival’s resident film critic, serving as movie columnist in the Sonoma West Times and News, Petaluma Argus Courier, Windsor Times and Healdsburg Tribune. He is the radio host of Cinema Toast on KRSH-FM and Word by Word: Conversations with Writers on KRCB-FM. Gil is also author of the Cinema Toast movie blog on the Press Democrat/New York Times website, Petaluma360.com. A psychological educator and internationally acknowledged expert on using film clips as teaching tools, Gil brings a decidedly different point-of-view to the festival’s selection committee.
Jean McGlothlin was part of the independent film community in San Francisco, producing and distributing films primarily for business and education. Her small company produced a feature film and distributed independent films to college campuses. She also produced a video that was bought by McGraw-Hill for distribution. Jean has pre-screened shorts for the San Francisco Film Festival, and although now a metalsmith, she remains a rabid film fan.
Tommie Dell Smith has produced and directed award-winning documentaries for over 25 years. As a member of New Day Films, a national film distribution cooperative, she has participated in selecting new documentaries for the collection for 14 years. Tommie has served as panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and several state arts councils and as a juror for other film festivals around the country.
Cynthi Stefenoni was born and raised in Sebastopol. A Directors Guild of America member since 1989, her career has included many television and film projects. She currently has residences in both Los Angeles and Sebastopol, but has always called Sebastopol her home.